How Gattis and Sumlin help Locksley on and off the field in the NIL era

Maryland is just over one month away from the season opener against Towson before ending non-conference play against Virginia, the first matchup between the two regional foes since 2013. Locksley noted that playing the “old ACC rivalries” has been a point of emphasis heading into conference play. “Since I've been back, I've been pounding the door. I work on the scheduling, Colleen Sorem, our associate AD, the number two in charge of and she's in charge of football. And I wanted to bring back the West Virginia's, the Virginia's, the Virginia Tech's," Locksley said on the BTN set. "I wanted to get some of those old ACC rivalries that we had in an effort to bring the fans back. Our fans are used to those type of games. I want to play as many of those as we possibly can, which prepares us for the Big Ten game. They’ll do so in the last year of divisions within the Big Ten, a move that Locksley has been an avid proponent of. “If only you could only be on some of those head coaching calls," Locksley joked. Maryland was predicted to finish fourth in the Big Ten East in the preseason media poll, but the added schedule variety along with the addition of USC and UCLA gives the Terps a chance to avoid the facing the Big Ten elite each fall. "I can tell you that the time the pandemic hit and I said let's just get rid of the divisions and let's just play, like pick a league, pick a game or pick a schedule. I'm glad to see this thing go away because it allows us to all get the luck of the draw, compete. I mean, from top to bottom, it's a tough League. So I'm happy about the division is going out.” After nearly reuniting after Locksley was first named Maryland’s head coach, Josh Gattis is now signed, sealed and six months into his new role as the Terps’ offensive coordinator as the pair of former Alabama assistants balance off each other’s familiarity and experience. “They’ve coached together, they’ve been together before so they’re familiar with each other,” BTN analyst Howard Griffith added. Locksley’s decades of coaching experience have allowed him to dip into his long list of coaches he’s worked or crossed paths with. “That's part of the nature of the beast and to be able to go into my rolodex, which most people don't know what a Rolodex is nowadays,” Locksley joked. The addition of former head coach Kevin Sumlin gives Locksley a veteran on the staff to lean as he navigates the program through a hectic era in college football, but the familiarity along the offensive side of the ball gives Maryland a chance to capitalize on its experienced core starters. “When you hire guys with head coach and experience, they take a few things off my plate and with NIL, transfer portal, roster management, having a guy like kind of the bounce things off of and he's been through the gamut. I mean, he's had great success at Houston, A&M, kind of a tough stretch there in Arizona,” Locksley said on the BTN set. “The thing that people don't understand in this coaching profession is sometimes you learn more when you fail than when you have success. And then being able to bring in somebody to add the value, add the value that he's created. You look at what he did with a quarterback like Johnny Manziel in college and you know, from a skill set, Lia similar to a guy like that. And so, some of the things that somebody did with him and the quarterbacks he's had kind of meshes with what we do and putting him and Josh together and that offensive system a system that has had great success, adds more things to our arsenal is great.” Locksley also hired Zac Spavital to fill Wes Neighbors’ void as the safeties coach for this upcoming season, but there’s a sense of comfort with Brian Williams settling into year two as defensive coordinator. Last fall, Maryland’s defense allowed both the least amount of points and touchdowns since 2010, along with the least amount of rushing yards and total yards per game in ten seasons. The on-field development was evident last fall, but the charisma and respect that Williams has garnered heading into his fifth season with the program hasn’t gone unnoticed by Locksley. “You know what the big thing is? Is those kids play hard for Brian Williams and I think it's a testament to the type of coaches the relationships he develops. We talk a lot and football is the greatest team sport there is and with transfer portal, NIL, it's kind of made it a little more individualized with guys like Brian Williams has the ability to bring teams together, bring people together to play for something bigger than themselves. And I've seen that in the defensive side of the ball and how the steps we were able to take last year. And again, Brian put our players in the best possible position. My expectation is that we just do it a little bit better this year.” Delegating has come in handy for Locksley as The Best is Ahead Foundation works to remain competitive in the ever-changing world of NIL. “It's here to stay. We're navigating it each and every day. It's a something new. We're doing things a little bit differently at Maryland and how we've set ours up. But our players have been set up for something special. I think it's they're deserving of what's going on in the landscape of college football but somehow someway, we just got to continue to tweak it and make it better for everybody to benefit.” Locksley talks about the future at NIL and how Maryland is working to remain competitive. “Well, I'm doing a little bit of everything. I mean fundraising, working with the office working with our defensive guys, but NIL, transfer portal, roster management is a full-time sector in itself for us and it's definitely different. And each and every day, we're working to try to create a way to control it a little better to allow me to get back in that room,” Locksley added. “You're in the mix. I mean, you have to be. I mean it's you know, it's like being the head coach and a GM and then working with a salary cap and negotiated contracts. It's been tough, but you know what? I want to those guys that when he put these things in place, it's my job to figure out how to do it and how to make it work.”

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More from Mike LocksleyLocksley on where Maryland is as a program “You know, I like the trajectory of the program. I like where we are. But as I've always said, we're a developmental program. So we're still working to get better and to be able to show the last couple of years, just kind of what we have become. It's good to see but we've got to knock it all down and start over. You know, too many times. People have the opinion that you can build on what you did a year ago, when you really can't you start over from scratch, and that's where we are right now." On new assistant hires on offense "Well, as you guys know, this is a relationship business and most of the guys that I've hired over the last four years and because of the success we've had in all areas of our program, we tend to lose coaches and staff members, we're doing a great job and that's part of the nature of the beast and to be able to go into my rolodex, which most people don't know what a Rolodex is nowadays, and hire guy like Josh, who I had a chance to work with at Alabama and bring him in haven't had a chance to hire a guy like Kevin Sumlin to come in and help on that side of the ball. I think it shows or at least validates that people outside of our program do see the value and come into a place like Maryland." On the impact of hiring Josh Gattis and Kevin Sumlin "Coach you know, man, when you hire guys with head coach and experience, they take a few things off my plate and with NIL, transfer portal, roster management, having a guy like kind of the bounce things off of and he's been through the gamut. I mean, he's had great success. And Houston, A&M, kind of a tough stretch there in Arizona. The thing that people don't understand in this coaching profession is sometimes you learn more when you fail than when you have success. And then being able to bring in somebody to add the value, add the value that he's created. You know, you look at what he did with a quarterback like Johnny Manziel in college and you know, from a skill set, Lia similar to a guy like that. And so some of the things that somebody did with him and the quarterbacks he's had kind of meshes with what we do, and putting him and Josh together and that offensive system a system that has had great success adds more things to our arsenal is great." On Lia staying in neutral and challenges for 2023 season “What he was a little better at getting the neutral and managing the emotions, whether they were good or bad. And I saw that maturity out of them. I think the next step for him was something that didn't show itself early in his career, but I thought we left a few big plays on the field in the deep passing game, Lia, and his ability to do the things off platform and create big plays when nothing is there is unmatched. But the next step for him this year is to the ball placement on the deep post, the ball placement on the seven route, being able to get through the progression and not come off and throw guys open. To me that's the next step and we've worked really hard this past offseason to be able to take advantage of some of the big plays that maybe we'd left on the field.” On Maryland's new offensive line “You know what the best thing and this is why I always say the transfer portal giveth and it taketh. It's given in that position alone for us and I think it'll show dividends early to be able to go get a guy like Gotti from Frostburg, to go get a guy like Corey Bullock from North Carolina Central. If you look at the way we've attacked the portal, I kind of like guys that are coming up. You know, sometimes you go and you hit some of the Power Five schools or the blueblood programs where a third team or a second team who didn't play. He kind of thinks he's doing you a favor when he shows up on your campus. I like those guys that want to prove that they can play at this level. With some of the guys we've taken out of the portal whether it's Donnell Brown has a pass rusher out of St. Francis ,Corey Bullock, North Carolina Central, Gotti Ayedze, who's going to hopefully be the guy that starts at the tackle position for us, we feel like we've been able to meet the needs and add some bodies there that have experienced to help us get through it." On NIL progress “It's here to stay. We're navigating it each and every day. It's a something new. We're doing things a little bit differently at Maryland and how we've set ours up. But our players have been set up for something special. I think it's they're deserving of what's going on in the landscape of college football but somehow someway, we just got to continue to tweak it and make it better for everybody to benefit.” On managing NIL thanks to Sumlin’s presence “Well, I'm doing a little bit of everything. I mean fundraising, working with the office working with our defensive guys, but NIL, transfer portal, roster management is a full-time sector in itself for us and it's definitely different. And each and every day, we're working to try to create a way to control it a little better to allow me to get back in that room,” Locksley added. “You're in the mix. I mean, you have to be. I mean it's you know, it's like being the head coach and a GM and then working with a salary cap and negotiated contracts. It's been tough, but you know what? I want to those guys that when he put these things in place, it's my job to figure out how to do it and how to make it work.” On defense under DC Brian Williams “You know what the big thing is? Is those kids play hard for Brian Williams and I think it's a testament to the type of coaches the relationships he develops. We talk a lot and football is the greatest team sport there is and with transfer portal, NIL, it's kind of made it a little more individualized with guys like Brian Williams has the ability to bring teams together, bring people together to play for something bigger than themselves. And I've seen that in the defensive side of the ball and how the steps we were able to take last year. And again, Brian put our players in the best possible position. My expectation is that we just do it a little bit better this year.” On renewing matchups against regional foes, including Virginia in ‘23 “Since I've been back, I've been pounding the door. I work on the scheduling, we're Colleen Sorem, our associate AD, the number two in charge of and she's in charge of football. And I wanted to bring back the West Virginia's, the Virginia's, the Virginia Tech's. I wanted to get some of those old ACC rivalries that we had in an effort to bring the fans back. Our fans are used to those type of games. I want to play as many of those as we possibly can, which prepares us for the Big Ten game." On managing new-look OL and mobile QB and whether Taulia changes play style “We really don't because the system the way is set up the ball comes out of his hands and really, usually pretty quickly with what we do. We will take those play-action shots where he’s asked to hold on a little bit. I'm hopeful that the new people we brought in upfront through the portal because we did have to feel the void when you lose for starters on your own line. And these guys played a lot of plays. But what I've learned and I've taken from the time being in Alabama with coach Saban is you have to force yourself to play young players and if you look at some of the guys that are playing for us now like Amelio Moran, who played probably 25, 30 snaps a game for us a year ago. Corey Bullock was a DI-AA All American, FCS all American. Mike Purcell played at Elon, transferred to Duke. So we've got guys that have experienced but now as I always say, August is like Christmas in August, I get a chance to really see what these guys can do once we put the pads on and have an opportunity to go through summer camp.” On week one opener “It's my alma mater man. They got a new coach who all they got has done is when if you look at what he did a West Florida down there and the success he had into DII level. When he got hired, I gave him a call and said ‘coach man, you are welcomed up here anytime you can't except when we’re practicing.’ After the first game I'll welcome them with open arms but no, to have the opportunity to play my alma mater, which has prepared me for what I'm doing in my life, it's a way of saying thank you and I'm looking forward to competing against those guys.” On Big Ten moving away from divisions in 2024 “If only you could only be on some of those head coaching calls. I'm in DC so I know lobbying a little bit. I've been lobbying to get rid of them divisions for a long time. “I can't speak for Tom or Greg Schiano, but I can tell you that the time the pandemic hit and I said let's just get rid of the divisions and let's just play, like pick a league, pick a game or pick a schedule. I'm glad to see this thing go away because it allows us to all get the luck of the draw, compete. I mean, from top to bottom, it's a tough League. So I'm happy about the division is going out.” On whether recruiting strategy changes with the transfer portal “No, I think the big thing for me is one, we're going to be a high school centric recruiting based. Like we're gonna sign high school players. I mean, I think the people that have probably taken the biggest hit has been the high school athlete with the portal and but for us, to build the type of program that I want to have, I want kids that have grown up in our system, that have grown up in our culture, that really understand it so that when we do reach into the portal to bring players like we have, we have enough people to police that locker room and make sure that the culture that we've worked really hard to develop and build with the player driven leadership doesn't go away.”